MALAYSIA will not halt the import of foodstuff from China amid the coronavirus scare, said Salahuddin Ayub.

“The virus is by human transmission and does not involve foodstuff,” the agriculture and agro-based minister told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

“But we have nevertheless instructed border customs units to conduct random checks on items like meat or fruits coming into the country although there is no evidence that these items are a source of transmitting the virus.

“It’s just a preventive measure,” said Salahuddin, after witnessing the signing ceremony between Petronas and Agrobank in Kuala Lumpur today.

Petronas is collaborating with Agrobank to provide microfinancing for RM100 million to B40 groups who want to undertake agriculture activities or upgrade their production facilities.

Malaysia also doesn’t import any food product from the coronavirus epicentre, Wuhan.

“We don’t have imports from Wuhan or Hubei,” he said.

In 2017, the total import for agro-food amounted to RM51.3 billion and in 2018, it exceeded RM52 billion.

According to the Ministry of International Trade, imports from China in 2019 (January-November) amounted to RM159.63 billion.

Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali, meanwhile, said there is no need to stop any import or export from China. 

“We are already monitoring the situation. And we will follow the lead by the Ministry of Health and have already decided to restrict movement from Wuhan and Hubei.

“If this continues, there will be some impact but I don’t want to speculate what the impact is and we will have to see,” said Azmin. – January 28, 2020.